One Hot Summer
by deadmous3
Summary: It's summer in jump city and everyone seems to be having fun , well , almost everyone. Raven ticks beast boy off and after an inward conflict, not only does she realize that beastboy is smarter than she thought, she also experiences a new kind of emotion; love. A BBXRAE fanfic (Beast boy and Raven)
1. Chapter 1

= **A/N** : Well it finally happened! After spending an inordinate amount of time wrestling with the constructive criticism from my mates and with conflicts of my own imagination I finally did it. I made my first fic! *This is not a plea for sympathy; throw 'em rocks if you may so I guess it's safe to say: **All nasty reviews shall not be deleted** \- Taking one for the team. #Team_Amateur... Ciao*

 **Disclaimer:** Yes I do not own Teen Titans. If I did, well let's just say things would be quite interesting there.

I know the series is pretty much outdated but after spending hours and hours abusing my computer by watching Teen Titans go, I thought it would be a good throwback. **NB** : BBxRAE {bet you knew that, tyke} \0o0/.

* _Italics symbolize thoughts_ *

Okay. On with the story…

Chapter 1: Hot summer, cold heart

The blazingly hot summer sun shone through the clear sky and onto the deserted streets of Jump City. Summer was at its peak and the heat wave had caused even the once-deserted banks of Jump City Beach to bustle with activity once more; the heat was extremely intense that it almost unbearable and one green changeling was beginning to learn that the hard way.

Beast Boy was lying on the "floor" in his muddle of a room, his legs flung out in complete disarray and his eyes were shut tight. His face held a blend of multiple emotions but it wouldn't have had taken a genius to realize that the changeling was in utter discomfort. He twisted and turned in an ocean of dirty laundry and other miscellanies. After shuffling through the debris, a rotting pizza slice that he'd thrown on his floor a couple of nights back –after smuggling it from Cyborg's room- got stuck on his face. Beast Boy had to admit; this was a new low, even for his tastes. His face crunched up in response as the "refreshing aroma" slipped through his nostrils.

 _Ugh! This smells awful. Man, Cy and Rae were right, this place looks like a zoo!_ Beast Boy mentally slapped himself after realizing the irony in his statement, _No wonder Rae's always teasing my IQ_. He frowned a little at that last part. He'd really been trying hard to put in that extra effort to act more mature but he always felt like he held the team back. But his speeding train of thought was brought to a halt as he felt his back feel slightly cool as sweat evaporated off it. He decided that it was a smart idea to change into something loose. He bulldozed his way through the trash in his room and reached his wardrobe. He opened the door and sweat dropped as he saw four more pairs of  the same outfit he was wearing; black spandex with a pink/purple-colored pattern. Just as he'd felt hopeless, he remembered that he still had that outfit that he'd once worn on their "vacation" in Tokyo. He went to the drawer in his wardrobe and pulled the outfit out in haste and put it on likewise. After a brief episode of swatting a few roaches that had found refuge in his pockets, he had on a white collar shirt with a red flower pattern, grey jean-shorts that just about reached his knees and a pair of slippers. After feeling satisfied with current outfit he headed towards the living room where the other Titans were.

With the others in the main room…

As the heat had seemingly become more intense Robin had asked Cyborg to help him create a pool outside. He was more than happy to lend a hand seeing as there was pretty much nothing to do anyway, and of course, Starfire casually joined.

"I have the most desire to help you out with the building of the pool of swimming!" Bolted a very energetic Starfire.

Raven, who was sitting on the couch reading a spell book, rolled her eyes under her hood. _Of course you want to 'help' your boyfriend, well at least that's one problem taken care of_. Normally she would chose to shut up and let someone have their way and do what-ever it was that they were about to do but she decided to speak. "You guys do realize that out tower is built ON THE BEACH right?" she said in her usual monotonous voice.

"But where's the fun in that Raven? Besides, we're going to be doing something, other than fighting, together as a group. Err almost as a group." Raven knew that Robin was just saying it for word's sake with reference to retrospect; she knew that Cyborg would do all the work while he and Starfire do… what they usually do. She quickly shook her head to avoid remembering what he'd seen them do about a week ago.

"Okay." She replied, with a glare that was somewhat cold. This sent a chill down the three Titans' spines and they abruptly headed for the elevator and were soon out of sight. _Alone at last_. She starred outside through the window and noticed Cyborg taking measurements while Star and Robin were nowhere in sight. She could see some traces of annoyance on the half-robot's face. She just shook her head in disbelief and turned her attention to the book she was reading.

Beast Boy made it to the living room feeling like a million bucks. He was hoping for a grand entrance but the main room didn't seem to have anybody; the silence was almost deafening. Sweat trickled down from his temples onto the floor and disappeared as it evaporated. _This is weird; it's like a thousand degrees today so where could they have possibly gone?_ He scanned the room for any of his team mates and his eyes found the empath, who winced a bit after she had noticed his presence but pretended as if she hadn't seen him. At least Rae's still around so they probably didn't ditch me.

"Hey Rae! Where are the others?" Raven really hated it when people disturbed her when she was reading – which was what she did during pretty much all her free time, except when she meditated- and hearing his voice was like hearing a thousand cats scratch on a rough surface. With her eyes fixed on her book she pointed outside and without saying a word she kept on reading. "Oh okay, notice anything different about me lately? They should call me Mr. five plus five 'cause I sure do look like a perfect 10" He wiggled his eyebrows as he spoke. At this stage Raven was becoming more furious with every word he said.

"The only thing that surprises me about that statement is that you got the math right." Beast boy's face fell and Raven, being an empath and all, noticed that his emotions had changed drastically.

"Do you have to always point out my flaws as if I don't already see them?" This time she looked back at him with uncertainty in her amethyst orbs. "I know I may not be as intellectual as most o' y'all but that doesn't mean you have to shoot me down every single day! I understand that I am quite immature but… it...it hurts" Raven didn't know what to say. She knew she'd said a lot of rude comments to him lately but he always seemed to shake them off. Today was different.

"I…Beast boy…" She failed to complete her sentence. Seeing to as he was waiting for a response she took a deep breath but before she could gather up enough energy to "apologize" he was already in the elevator. Now she fully understood why he had asked her what was different. She noticed that he wasn't wearing his usual attire; she felt as if she recognized the attire but couldn't put a finger on it or remember where she had seen it. She starred his direction until the elevator descended. She fell back on the couch and sighed with her hands rubbing her temples. _What's wrong with me? i thought defeating my father would bring me a step closer to total control over my emotions. But its only been worse for me lately_. She had been frequently lashing out on the changeling every now and then and unjustifiably so. Why was he so hard to talk to? Was it his immaturity, his horrible organization, poor perception, or was she the problem?

She looked outside and saw the changeling sitting on a rock, starring at the sea, skipping stones. _He's sad and it's all my fault_. Apologizing was not her forte but she knew she was in the wrong here. So she closed her book, placed it her hands and teleported outside. Though the wind blew fearlessly, the heat was still immense. She had to take down her hood in the course of avoiding hyperthermia or something like that. She too had broken into an everest of sweat. She walked towards her target with eyes set on beast boy, who she knew had heard her coming but hadn't turned on purpose, and cleared her throat. But before she could speak he stood and walked past her, and went back into the tower. She stood there somewhat irritated.

 **A/N** : Well I uh I hope that went well. Not my kind of style of writing but bear with me here. Next chapter will be out in a few days yeah. Just want to see how this turns out. #Team_Amateur


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the support, this is now chapter 2... 48 hour update policy xp**

Chapter 2: Choosing the right words

Beast boy strolled away from Raven and headed for the elevator door. He always knew that he wasn't the brightest of the lot, but he'd always convinced himself that he wasn't stupid. However, Raven always made it seem like as if his opinion was never considered and he knew that if she was on a Trivia TV show and had the choice to call a friend, he'd be the last person on her brain – if she was to think about him at all.

Beast boy's POV

I felt so freakin' annoyed with her that I really didn't want to hear her say another word at that moment; there I was trying to just lighten the mood and she just shoots me down with her usual freakin'… monotone! Who does she think I am a 10-year-old!? Anyway, I decided that enough was enough and I left her be; I couldn't stand being near her and one of us had to leave, so I look the liberty of being the first to oblige to that.

I headed for the elevator door and noticed that she had stopped talking, and though I couldn't see her, I could feel her staring right at me. I felt the urge to turn and give her a very 'detailed' rant about how bitchy she was acting but the fear of being blasted into another dimension made me keep moving. I entered the elevator and pressed the button that led to the ground floor: I looked back at her and noticed that she was still staring at me, her dead-pan emotional void of a face was now plastered with traces of anxiety and frustration that made me feel a bit uneasy but I chose to be brave –and stared right back at her, her amethyst orbs against my own emerald ones. After what seemed like an eternity, the doors of the elevator finally slid shut and I let out a confused sigh –I couldn't figure out if it was a sigh of relief or frustration. I reached the ground floor and I stepped out of the tower. The burning heat wave slapped across that bare skin of my exposed chest. Ouch, that was painful. Before that pain was entirely gone I heard a voice that was similar to Cyborg's and turned towards the direction I'd heard the voice from.

"Hey yo BB, how about you help me out with this pool for some good ol' fresh tofu buns. I know you can't resist 'em, grass stain?" I felt like dropping a bomb on him; here I was scolding myself about stupidity and then he brings up something so STUPID and the worst part is that: HE believes that I would fall for it. I was virtually starting to let out steam and I knew that if I didn't cool down soon, in this intense heat, I may have gotten heatstroke. So I calmed my mind and decided to just give him a one-liner then leave him where I found him.

"No thanks, got stuff on my mind." He gazed at me as if he'd seen a ghost, I just shrugged him off and continued walking but what he said next was not something that I would have ignored –especially not in my current state of mind.

"Did YOU just turn down food? No better yet, a tofu bun! I gotta get the Guinness book o' records for this one" He made it sound like a joke but to me it was anything but funny; I was so furious I felt the vein that popped on forehead begins to throb.

"I am not that dumb, Cy, and for starters: I can think with my brain, not my stomach!" He looked at me with his arms in the air, shot an apologetic smile, and clumped his hands in form of an apology; I just turned and headed forward, feeling rather proud of myself, but Raven's words came back to me and any feeling of contentment that I had previously just felt was replaced with a heavy tint of depression.

I finally reached the rocks that lay just beside the edge of the water. I liked it here; it was quiet and calm, helped me think. I took a rock and threw it across the surface of the water –it skid a great distance before it descended into the ocean. 'Bet Terra couldn't beat that'. I just took another rock and threw it across the water, pretending I hadn't thought about any of the what-if that flooded my clouded as I wasn't really comfortable with where my current thoughts were leading.

I took another smooth rock and skid it across the lake once more before I heard footsteps. Even though it was hot and the air was heavily stained with the smell of sweat and oil, I knew that distinct scent; it was Raven's. 'What could she possibly want?' I bet she's here to make a fool outta of me again, no, not today.' And with that, I stood and decided to head back into the tower; I didn't want to be around her and I was melting like a Popsicle in this heat. I kept my eyes off hers as I passed her but I could notice she had her hood down, whatever, I just went back into the tower and left a surprised Cyborg and as for Raven…I really didn't know and I certainly didn't care.

Raven's POV

I didn't know if I should be sad, angry or confused. I felt my fists clench in aggravation, 'Gosh! Does he have to be so damn… difficult all the time?" Involuntarily I slapped my forehead, which now held a red handprint, and saw Cyborg raise and eyebrow –his face held a baffled look that demanded an explanation, which was something he wasn't going to get from me. He was still waiting for a reply and he stared at me with a gaze that made me feel rather uncomfortably exposed, instinctively I hugged my cloak so that it was tightly pressed to my body; dreadful idea, it felt as if I was in a microwave. "What?" it sounded more like a bark as the heat building up inside my cloak made me to feel pretty deranged, giving up on it (holding my cloak), I took a deep breath as I heard him speak.

"Look, I know something's up with BB and I want you to be honest with me: what did you say to him" 'Whoa!', was the only think I could think of; it's like out of the four of us that live here, I was the one with the qualifications to piss him off? Or was it because we were the only two people in the tower? As if he'd read my mind, he continued, "You were the only two in there so don't try to play yourself outta this one, Rave, I know you got somethin' to do with it." I felt horrible; I had probably made Beast boy feel worthless. I really didn't have a grudge toward the guy but it's just that sometimes he could be such a stick-in-the mud and it was pretty annoying that I would lose control and just lash out on him. I was not going to answer Cyborg but I think he noticed that my face was desperately trying to masquerade the expression of remorse that was plastered on my face. "Go fix this," I heard him speak as I was kicked out my train of thought, "Go fix this, NOW!" He was dead-pan serious, it almost made me shiver, but with the current temperature, that wasn't in the slightest of possibilities. I sighed and gave him a slight nod I felt a stream of sweat trickle down my temples and stream onto the floor, suddenly going back in the house felt like salvation to me. 'Instead of this buffoon fixing our air conditioner, he's busy digging a pool!' I stopped on the main entrance and took a deep breath. I couldn't understand why I was so nervous and unsettled. 'It's probably nothing major' I reassured myself as I went into the elevator and was on my way to the common room.

3rd Person POV (Normal POV)

Raven emerged form the elevator and arrived in the common room. She scanned the room for any sign of Beast boy and took a deep breath as she saw the green changeling settled of the couch, flipping through the catalogue of TV channels –mumbling obscenities- She walked towards him. She thought that, with his super hearing and all, he'd sensed her presence but unbeknownst to her, she was dead wrong. She closed her eyes tightly and re-opened them and decided to choose the words she spoke very carefully.

"Hey, beast boy."She'd almost made him fall off the couch as she'd startled him. Beast boy recognized Raven's voice but he thought his ears were playing tricks on him as she had spoken without the slightest trace of monotone in her statement; he turned his body towards her. She noticed that his eyes were emerald as always but they seemed to be less appealing as they were plagued by the scowl that was on his face. She took a few steps forward to take a closer look at his features, and with her being an empath and all, she felt a mixture of emotions of confusion, sadness and anger emerging from him; she stopped walking. Beastboy was now feeling really uncomfortable as she walked towards him; his heart seemed to have come at ease when she came to a halt. She stared at him and saw him look tense; Beast boy wasn't normally like this, he was never the one to be affected by negativity, so seeing him standing there, pissed, jokeless and without his signature grin –all because of her- was pretty heartbreaking. "I'm… really… s-sorry f-for giving you a n-nightmare of a time lately." She mentally cursed at herself for her lack of enthusiasm, "I am having problems controlling my powers and I just deflated all the anger on you." She struggled to get the message across as well as keep her alien tone in sync; she'd managed to say it either way; however, she couldn't help but feel lightheaded as the ocean of blood that had rushed into her cheeks returned back to where it came from.

"Well, that was the same NIGHTMARE that I've been having for the past three months! Do you know what it's like to keep things in for that long!? She gave him a puzzled look and her face fell slightly; of course she knew how that felt, however, this wasn't about her so she put that aside. "Y'all think I'm just a little stupid and immature brat that gets in everyone's way," Raven couldn't help but feel her heart crack little; she didn't actually think that about him but, "I'm not as thick and as dumb as you think I am! I may not be intellectually blessed like you but I ain't that dense!" He was on a full verbal rampage and Raven's face held an apologetic look; she'd caused or this. She felt a wave of guilt rush past, he noticed this but didn't stop. "I am not a 10-year old anymore!" At this stage his voice held a heavy accent of disappointment rather than anger.

She blinked a few times and remained silent as she waited for him to finish.After he was done shouting, she decided to say something to ease the tension in the room. She was now looking at the floor and decided to speak, "Beast boy I'm so sorry," The words seemed extremely alien to her as they slipped past her lips. "I guess since I got used to you being, you know –Beast boy, I still thought you had that… that mentality of a child..." She hesitated after she had said that last part and knew she'd gone for the wrong choice of words; his anger seemed far more radiant than before. She closed her eyes and winced in anticipation as she prepared herself for the verbal barrage that she thought was about to receive but to her surprise, it never came. He simply just stood, threw the remote on the couch and headed for his room. After Raven had noticed no response, she opened her eyes but to only be greeted by an empty room with the TV beaming. She heard footsteps in the corridor and knew he'd left.

This was going to be harder than she had initially thought it would be. She let out a whimper and wiped her forehead, which had its skin flaking due to some serious sunburn.

"This day keeps getting better and better." Apart from all the pride and dignity she thought she'd lost today, she was still contented by the fact that her sarcasm wasn't affected –for reasons only knows to her- but she had bigger fish to fry and she really had no idea where to find the recipe.

A/N: Well that's chapter 2 done and there're a few more to come [No hiatus for this fella]. Working on two fics timing's a little unprofessional, so sorry for the wait. I really think that my first fic really did wonders to my confidence. I know some people don't really like the first person POVs and if that's the case, drop the feedback in the reviews and I'll happily mold something that's more suitable for your taste, remember, y'all keep me alive. Oh, and due to my mixed vocabulary base I may use some words that are used in British context to illustrate American terminology etc. but err, I hope that's not a big deal, cheers.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** : _Okay, I'm really sorry for taking ages to update but free time is a luxury that has been absolutely scarce for me lately. I am grateful to all my reviewers and, yes, I have decided to make a few changes to my story, again, feel free to critique, i'm also open to suggestions. Anyway, here's the next chapter…Ciao_.

Chapter 3: Reciprocated

Raven stood motionless in her bedroom shower as she felt the relaxing chill bring her body some peace. However, her mind was far less tranquil; she was thinking about what had happened between her and Beast Boy. What surprised her most was the fact that it had had a major impact on her.

'Why does it bother me so much?' She thought to herself. The past few days had been intense; it had been almost five days now and the two titans hadn't uttered a word to each other. Beast Boy would be in a jolly good mood at one moment but as soon as she would pop into vicinity, he would be back to his rather unusual grey self at the never bothered her as he naturally used to;he just ignored her and pretended like she didn't even exist. She had never thought about it before but she could admit it now; she missed him.

She sighed as her mind tried to process the recent revelation; apologizing, emotions and sentimentality were a novelty to about all these things had left her so emotionally scarred that she'd started losing control of her powers and hearda window shatter. Snapping back to reality, she tried to stay calm. She took a deep breath and let pout. 'Get a grip, Raven!' She gritted her teeth as she hugged herself, now feeling cold as she'd stayed in for too long.

She stepped out of the shower and rinsed the moisture that was streaming down her she was done with her usual preparation rituals, she headed to the common room feeling rather underwhelmed by the dull mood that she was currently in.

In the common room...

Beast Boy sat rather quietly on the couch beside a very jaded Cyborg; Beast Boy was in a deep pensive trance and had been silent for quite a while now. Cyborg had let out a few groans of displeasure towards the current boredom-infested atmosphere but the changeling was quite marinated in his own little mental train of thought and ignored him. He was thinking about how he'd acted when Raven had tried to apologize to him. He was very confused and the thought had kept him up late at night. He felt a wave of remorse pass past him; he'd thought about how he acted and had felt brief episode of guilt but his angry status quo was reverted once he remembered her words, 'I guess since I got used to you being, you know –Beast boy, I still thought you had that… that mentality of a child…'The last part echoed in his mind. 'A child, huh? Well, I don't need her.'Lately he'd been looking at her as a major mood killer; he'd even told Cyborg that she was a 'walking headache'. His brain had become so impregnated with thoughts that he started to have severe migraine.

"Hey man, I am not really feelin' the happy vibe today. I'll be in the garage fixin' my baby." Beast Boy was so deep in his thoughts that he hadn't heard his cybernetic friend or even notice that he'd left the room.

He felt his fists clench in frustration as he remembered an incident that had happened between them, he and Raven,about a month back.

(Flashback)

"What's up Rae,?"Beast Boy approached the half demon. She had been reading the same book for three straight days and he'd started to wonder. She winced as she heard his voice; could his timing be any worse?

"What is it, Beast Boy?"She replied coldly as she wanted peace and quiet; those words meant in Beast boy's dictionary. He was slightly taken back by her answer but shrugged off the feeling and decided to continue.

"Where do cows go to watch TV?"She looked at him with a blend of annoyance and pity. She wanted him to shut up so that she could enjoy her book in peacebut decided to let him continue.

"No. Where do they go?"She croaked out, rather sarcastically.

"They go to the _**moovies**_!"Beast Boy bursted into a fit of laughter. Raven just rolled her eyes and went back to her book. 'I really need a reading room.' She thought to herself.

"I wonder how you managed to survive this long." Robin and Cyborg both let out low but audible chuckles. That wasn't the same for Beast Boy; after her remark Beast Boy's face fell and turned back and headed to cyborg.

(End Of Flashback)

He shifted uncomfortably on the couch and leaned backwards, letting out a frustrated sigh; with nothing to do, he was constantly haunted by the thought that his teammates, Raven, to be specific, had been treating him like a breast-feeding infant and it vexed him.

Raven peered into the common room and scanned the room for any of her teammates. She really didn't want to meet anyone, especially Beast Boy; After a life time of being tough and unmoved, he was one of the only two people, other than her father, who could stira feeling of nervousness inside her. She prayed on Azarath that if there was to be someone in here, it would be someone other than him. Whilst crossing her fingers, she walked in and, to her horror, saw Beast Boy -who was bluntly staring at nothing in particular. She froze as if her body was thrown in a frozen wasteland. 'Jeez! Why don't you just get it over and done with it? Raven you pathetic twit.' After she was done scolding herself, she approached him -her steps remained silent as if they were trying to avoid detection. The closer she walked towards him, the more radiant his emotions became. 'I've never felt Beast Boy emmit an emotional aura this strong before.' Guilt stroke her once more as she reminded herself that she was the reason why he was in this current state in the first place.

She walked over and sat next to him on the couch. Once he noticed she had sat, his heart started to race. "Hey, Beast Boy." He gave no reply, rather just pretended as if he was'nt litsening. He'd noticed she came but failed to leave the room because, even for him in this state, he thought it would be inappropriate. The tensing atmosphere made it seem as if the world had stood still, and the heat made the situation rather more difficult for raven especially; she was flooding with sweating. "Beast Boy, I'm sorry for what i said to you a few days ago, I didn't mean it." This time, for the first time that day, he looked at her and shot an apologetic smile; in a blink of an eye his scowl resurfaced and he decided to speak.

"Raven, Why do you hate me so much?" She was surprised that he'd called her by her full name and then paused as she tried to soak in the words he'd just said, ' _did he just say...hate..._?' Sure she never took him into her gallery of exaggerated sentimentality or enthusiasm like how Star did with Robin but she never hated him, even after all the trouble she'd caused him, she could never hate him. "Raven, Why do you always use me as a both a physical and verbal punching bag? You always say mean things to me; i mean you already said it , 'If can transform into a pig, i may as well live like one right? You even said I am a brainless, annoying green little animal that can't even spell out its own name! Why are you so EVIL! " As a reading buff, Raven had read a multitude of sayings and she'd now fully understood when they say, ' _They're just words but they cut deep_ '; and for her, it was as if she was stabbed in the stomach and it was being pulled upwards. She felt her own emotions begin to stir, naturally it would have been anger but she was experiencing a different kind of emotion, sadness. "Everytime I walk into the room it's like i'm a living nightmare to you! Well, listen you hypocrite," Beast Boy was so furious that he'd now started rambling, " I am through; you've made it pretty clear to me that you don't want me around! So have a nice life, because i'm done trying to be in it." His eyes widened as he realized he'd gone too far but he was so engulfed in anger that the words of remorse never came out. Eventually, his fury rush came to a halt and he felt his stomach twitch in response.

Raven was so overwhelmed with what Beast Boy had just said; she never knew he'd bottled up so much. She always thought he took her remarks lightly. She had shifted her gaze onto her lap avoiding making eye contact but she lifted her head to meet his piercing gaze: her flickering amethyst orbs agains his furious emerald ones. She couldn't bare the pain; she felt her eyes starting to get really warm and felt a tear stream down her eyes and converge with her sweat. She dropped her head and a torrent of more tears followed. She started to sob. Beast Boy didn't mean it to go that far. He didn't want her out of his life; the whole purpose of bugging her was to be in it. He mentally slapped himself as he knew he'd screwed this up.

"Beast...Boy...I never knew...I'm so sorry." She managed to say in between sobs, "I never knew i caused you so much pain. I'm sorry for making life a hell for you here." Her sobs were begining to sound more audible now and Beast Boy was taken by surprise with her reaction; Raven, goddess of I-dont-give-a-damn-about-anything Ville was actually crying. He wanted to say something but had not words; he did have some anger left but he knew that she meant her apology, at least now,even though she'd hurt him with far more than just words many, many times before.

Beast Boy was feeling rather baffled; this wasn't exactly what he'd wanted and things hadn't gone according to script. He couldn't help but feel unnerved by the fact that he had probably ruined things for both of them, as friends or...as anything more. His eyes widened at that last part, could he...no...could she... no, not in the slightest of chances could she ever consider him. He thought about what he'd said to her and knew that he'd gone slightly overboard. He felt bad now; he watched her body let out sad whimpers. His ears fell and he put a hand on her back, and rubbed gently, not knowing what to say.

It was ironic how their roles had become reciprocated, but humor was the last thing on his mind at the moment. He cleared his throat as patted her back and began to speak...

 **A/N: _Hmm. Yeah. I know what your thinking -'this wasn't what i had in mind' well, worry not young padawan; the force is strong with this one (points to author). Jokes. Well Rae may be a little OCC but i am trying my best to stick to the script. Also about the POV switches [BUG FIXED]. Now just sit back and relax as I upgrade my story to 4.0._**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

'You really went an extra mile in messing things up time.' Beastboy thought as he rubbed her back, which was earth-quaking with shivers, and gently ran circles along it. For Beast Boy, seeing her like this –especially her- was more frightening than words could say. 'What if she blows up the whole tower? Bad stuff always happens when her emotions go crazy and all! ' Beast Boy's face now held an expression of guilt and panic as he thought about the multitude of things that her powers could bring demise to. Still Panicking, he glanced over at Raven, who had buried her face in her lap in the process of hiding her tear-streaked face.

Beast Boy was blank on what to do; he was as equally guilty as he was mad. 'If only she was this sentimental in the first place; if only she'd… laughed at my joke or kept quiet, at least, we wouldn't be here trying to fix issues!' He had no idea what his next move was going to be so he kept running circles around her back trying to relieve her a bit –but the attempts were futile as her sobs and cries weren't getting any milder. Nevertheless, he kept on patting and rubbing.

In contrast to Beast Boy, Raven's metal situation was far worse; the words Beast Boy had said earlier kept echoing in her mind; as if they were set to haunt her for life. She felt terrible for giving him such a burden, for making him to question his sanity, for… for… hurting him. The confusion and mental trauma caused her crying to intensify; she clenched to her robe tightly, gritted her teeth, and shut her eyes tight as if she was trying to prevent more tears from flooding out. She could feel Beast Boy rubbing her back; this had a rather unintended effect, unbeknownst to Beast Boy.

'Why is he being nice to me, after what I made him go through?' To her, the extra confusion was like adding a bad ingredient to an already-bad recipe; it made the situation worse. She was trying to remain in control but it was harder than she'd expected : After defeating her father, she now had her emotions at bay but still, being a powerful dark arts demoness, there was always a possibility of… a …leak –and by the looks of things, it would take one hell of a plumber to fix this one. She was tensing, her face red as blood had rushed into her drooped head, and her labored breath was not helping either. Beast Boy's heart gave out a squeeze as he could feel she was not in the best of positions as her body made it fairly obvious that she was far from comfortable. He patted her back and cleared his throat.

"Rae, you need to sit up straight; I don't think that all the blood rushing to your head seems like a smart idea." Beast Boy spoke almost unwillingly, his voice was emotionless and slightly monotone –as if he didn't care. Still, Raven was always the one to notice the little things; he'd called her RAE that meant that he wasn't that mad at her anymore. All the emotional drama had caused her own emotions to become so amplified that it had interfered with her empathy; never in her whole life did she ever feel this alone –she felt like she was trapped in a dark box under the ocean as she had lost connection with her peripheral world for the first time. The silence in her mind was almost deafening; the voices kept her sane, now it was just her, and a fairly angry Beast Boy. Involuntarily, she clutched to Beast Boys uniform, and slightly scratched his skin as she sought peace. She felt vulnerable, weak, and hopeless.

Now things were beginning to boil for the changeling. He felt her grab his spandex uniform and give it a tight squeeze. He froze as he had a rather shocking epiphany, 'Whoa! She's really loosing her mind and it's all because of… me?' And with that, if finally came to him that she cared –even if she sucked at showing it, she still cared in her own Raven way. He knew that her mental scar wasn't something that could've been remedied by any of the contents found in a first-aid kit. He felt a joke whoosh past him but totally ignored the urge as it was that kind of behavior that had sparked this whole situation in the first place. So he then decided to do something, something rather unexpected: he put his hand over hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. At this moment Raven had lost all knowledge of what she was doing and didn't even realize that she'd he had her hand in his. After he gave it a light squeeze, she snapped back into reality and was exceedingly surprised as confused. She lifted her head and showcased her flooded face, her beady mauve orbs against his emerald ones.

"Raven…" He begun, now lifting her head upwards so that her whole body was now facing him, his left hand still on her right, "Raven it's alright…you…didn't deserve that. I… I lost control and I forgot what was most important; friendship." She was so used to being independent that knowing he'd made her feel this vulnerable and even went as far as causing her to undergo an emotional breakdown had bruised her pride big time –but she was in no condition to speak of that. "Even though you may not admit it, you do care and consider me as one too." Raven shuffled under his grip as she tried to soak in the words he was saying. She couldn't do it; without permission, her mind would shift to a different topic. She'd always found him difficult to be around and all the confusion made her retaliate with anger; she just couldn't put a finger on it –why couldn't she just be as calm around him as she was with, say, Cyborg? She was always so self conscious when he came to help her and had found it horribly hard to apologize to him.

He stared at her for a while as if he was hoping for a reply but she seemed to be trapped in her own world of thought. Raven, who was now purple-faced as she'd held her breath for too long, was snapped back into reality as she saw him looking intently at her. She felt as if she had a lump on her throat.

"Rae, you don't have to beat yourself up for this. I guess I should be the one apologizing; I acted like a child." He had said this just to lighten the mood as he wasn't fully over the fact that she'd been the one who was in the wrong to begin with. "You're my friend and I shouldn't put you through all this." Raven felt her heart let out a squeeze, but she wasn't sure if it was because he'd called her his friend or because he didn't think of her as anything more than that. Quickly she shook the thought, she couldn't help but feel certain warmth, one that she hadn't felt since she'd seen her mother back in Azarath. She opened her mouth to speak.

"Just what is a friend to you?" Her voice was now reduces to a hoarse rasp but the words were still articulate. Beast Boy smiled for the first time that day. He stared at the wall to relax a little and then returned his gaze to her and excavated his brain in the hopes of finding a perfect answer.

"A friend is someone who would never want you to fall; they'll pick you up and if for some reason they fail to do that, they'll lie down on the ground with you until you have the strength to do it yourself. Friends won't keep secrets from other friends; they'll speak their minds out so that they get helped. And when you see a friend going through a tough time…alone…it…it…hurts." He finished a well rounded statement with a stutter but the message diffused clearly into her mind. She never knew this was what he'd thought about her. She felt more miserable for treating him poorly all these years. Without knowing it, she fell onto his chest and buried her head into it. This was uncalled for as he was caught unawares. He remained static for a few seconds but later held her in a, rather awkward, embrace.

"Thanks." It was a whisper, barely audible, but with his ultra hearing abilities it was loud enough for him to hear it. He was now running out of things to say so he just held her closer to him in silence. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion, as if he was hypnotized. He could feel her sobs synchronizing with his heartbeat. Her chest crushed vigorously into his own every time she sobbed. He felt a blush creep onto his cheeks as the thought became more graphical. Shrugging off the feeling, he knew he had to break the silence somehow. His wish was soon granted as he was startled to his toes by the sound of the beaming crime alert alarm, which was both a relief as well as an annoyance.

'Who could possibly be doing anything on a day like this? It feels like being in an oven out there!' Raven had also been brought out of her melancholic express and wiped her tears with the edges of her cloak as she tried to gather herself together. In this deranged state, she wasn't going to be much help; she needed to regain her sanity.

'Great! Can this day get any worse?' She thought to herself, her trademark sarcasm now revived. However, it wouldn't have taken a genius to know that she'd been weeping as she had bags under her reddened eyes. She tried as much as possible to avoid looking at Beast Boy. Now as she was more conscious of her surrounding than before, she thought about the compromising position he'd held her in and felt blood rush into her cheeks. She put her hood on and winced in discomfort as it felt like she'd just put on a stove. But she couldn't risk Beast Boy seeing her blush –he'd already seen a lot more than he bargained for. She mentally kicked herself for being so vulnerable, so feeble.

"TITANS GO!" Beat Boy and Raven both turned back and saw Robin sprint towards them. "It's Trident. He's broken into Cybertech Labs." The two titans {BB and Raven} stared at their leader quizzically; he had his shirt backwards and wore no gloves. To make the whole image worse, he had several lipstick marks printed along his neck. Not a long time afterwards, a huffing Starfire entered the common room, also equally as deranged as the former. It wouldn't have taken a genius to put the jigsaw pieces together and come up with a conclusion as to why these two had been in this state.

Beast Boy felt himself sweat drop. Unwillingly he looked at Raven, who coincidentally, also looked back. As the realization hit them, they quickly faced away from each other. Robin and Star held perplexed looks on their faces but Robin decided that it no time to play detective as they had bigger fish to fry –Literally. Repeating his earlier statement once more, he shouted. "TITANS GO!" They rushed out of the tower to find Cyborg.

 **A/N: that's another chapter done. Sorry for the wait. I have two stories that need updating so i am stuck on crossroad. Thanking you all for the support; love you lots, though my biggest thank you goes to RPGPesona for the support and motivation. *RESPECT*. Remember to place your opinions:**

 **Views Reviews x Time taken = MOTIVATION.**

 **"Y'all keep me alive*"**


	5. Notice!

**This isn't a chapter.** **I am truly gutted with myself for not updating sooner, I can't/don't have a valid excuse for not committing. however, I am continuing The story as you're reading this... I'm sorry x1000 for the wait.** **cheers ~ deadmous3**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N:**

I'm truly sorry for the wait but as promised: a new chapter. Don't forget to place your reviews. :p ~cheers.

Chapter 5: De ja vu

The four titans shuffled out of the common room in haste. This was usually the norm when the crime alarm went off –they knew that Robin would drown them in a barrage of lectures ranging from 'Every second counts' to 'it's our responsibility to keep time'-he could be so uptight at times. As they cruised down to the garage they were already flooding in an ocean of sweat that perspired from their overheated bodies. Luckily enough, Cyborg beat them to the car and already had the engine roaring.

"Hop right on in!" The titans didn't need a green light for that but Cyborg, always the over protective one, said it anyway –it had become almost like common courtesy in the past few weeks. Instinctively, Robin Jumped into the front seat which meant that a disappointed Beast Boy and the girls had to take the back. This was followed by low mutters of displeasure from the changeling who was now boycotting from sitting in the middle –greatly because that meant he would inevitably sit next to Raven.

Cyborg kept his eyes glued to the road leading into the highway and clenched his steering wheel. The engine roared once more as it darted out of the garage onto the highway.

"So why is fish-face attacking all the city's labs? This is the third time in one week?" Beast Boy asked. He couldn't help but wonder what Trident's main objective was.

"That is what we're gonna find out BB." Cyborg answered with a tint of uncertainty in his tone, "And wait, isn't fish-face aqua lad?"

"They both smell like fish so who cares?" Both Cyborg and beast boy let out constricted giggle but Big Uncle Sam wasn't having any of it.

"Focus!" Beamed the fearless leader, "All the looted Labs reported that they were missing large quantities of Benzodiazepine and Alprazolam." They all stared at him like he was a total stranger. Even Raven who would constantly drown herself in a library of books was ,for once, surprised at her inability to contribute to the topic –let alone understand a thing he just said."These are chemicals found in tranquilizers or sleeping pills" He added after noticing the flabbergasted looks on his teammates' faces. After his last statement they all had an 'Oh' look on their faces. To be honest he was quite surprised that Beast Boy knew what a tranquilizer was.

"This explains why he has only been attacking Labs conducting medical research. But why would he need all these chemicals?" Every one stared at Beast Boy as he finished his statement. Raven scolded herself again as she realized that she'd been wrong about him all along. A sad smile crept on her face and she looked outside the window.

"He must have one bad case of insomnia." Joked Cyborg. "Something doesn't add up…" Before he could finish his sentence there was a large explosion and their car was knocked off the highway. Luckily, they had already arrived at their destination –Cyborg was trying to find 'perfect' parking spot.

They all poured out of the car and headed towards the epicenter of the action. Trident was being held up, well more like being slowed down, by whatever resistance was left. He brushed them off without any effort and gazed at the titans.

"Trident! Prepare to know how it feels like to be a fish out of water. TITANS GO!" Just as Robin announced, the core reactor was beginning to overload and required a manual shut down. "They conduct nuclear research too?" Raven rolled her eyes as she heard him say this. "Okay, Raven and Beast Boy go to the core reactor and shut it down before it blows! Cyborg, Star and I are having fish for dinner. Titans GO!"

Without a word they all dispersed towards their designated tasks. Raven and Beast Boy felt the awkward atmosphere that they had encountered before the alarm went on. A million thoughts were racing in their minds as fast as they were racing to the core. It wasn't that hard to tell where it was as it was situated in the middle of the single-floor building. They arrived at their destination with sweat pouring down their heads like a fountain. The heat that radiated form the reactor didn't make things any better for them either. Raven knew that if this silence was going to continue, they wouldn't get the job done so she decided to break the silence.

"How are we supposed to turn this thing off?" The noise was getting louder and it was now or never. Then Beast Boy had an idea.

"Why don't we cut the power source to the reactor?" He said, feeling very proud of himself.

It did sound like a great plan but it had one problem. "How are we supposed to find the main switch leading to this? And think fast, the longer we're exposed to this radiation the more damage it will do to us.

"Right. I will simply morph into a bat and use my sonar to locate the switch –easy peasy." 'Wow' was all that Raven could say. 'When was this Beast Boy when you needed him?' She was brought out of her train of thought as she realized that the rumbling sound of the reactor core started to drown down and ultimately became non-existent. Beast Boy morphed back into his usual self and walked up to Raven.

They felt themselves being plunged into an abyss of awkwardness once more as their eyes darted across the room onto random things avoiding eye contact.

'What's the matter with me? Pull yourself together Raven Roth! Oh what in Azar's name have I gotten myself into?' Worrying was becoming a bit of a cliché to her now –she got used to it- but this was a new kind of worry; she was pondering on why she'd been feeling so nervous around him –it started to bother her.

Beast Boy looked at her through the corners of his eyes and noticed she'd zoned out again. He took a deep breath to gather up the courage to snap her out of it –so he 'snapped' his fingers in her face. She didn't budge. He then gave her a slight nudge and she jolted.

"Earth to Raven, Hello?" He spoke, barely achieving that without stuttering.

"Raven to Earth, I'm okay, over." She joked back sounding ever so calm though in her mind it was anything but that.

"Leave the jokes to me. It's like a disease we were blessed with." He was now grinning ear to ear.

"For your sake I hope you don't find a cure." Now it was her turn to grin. A genuine grin that Beast Boy had never seen before; It made her look…different…but beautiful. 'Who knew Raven could be so fun? She looks amazing.' His eyes widened at the thought and he thought she'd sensed his emotions. If she knew he was thinking this about her, she'd kill him –or so he thought. She saw that his demeanor had changed.

"Are you okay?" She said with a tone of utter concern.

"Y-yeah I'm fine. I just realized that the others are still fighting fish-breath and we better go lend them a hand." He lied. Raven had noticed his dishonesty but saved accusations for later as she knew that he was right.

So with that they headed back into the room they were before and noticed a very angry Robin and two surprised titans staring at them.

"What happened here?" Beast Boy asked. Robin looked in his direction and his expression softened -slightly.

"He was a fake." Raven and Beast Boy were equally as surprised. "That Trident was a fake, not a clone, a fake! He was mechanical." He said as he kicked the dismantled remains of the mecha-Trident. "Cy, pack the remains, we'll have to take a look at the body at the tower, perhaps we can trace the creator."

"Uh Rob, you might wanna take a look at this." Cyborg held a metal piece in the air.

"It's made of Silicon, I know that Cy. Let's move"

"No, not that." He directed a ray UV light over the mental and reveled an S, a pattern that Wonder boy knew all too well.

"Slade!?"Cyborg nodded his head while Robin's body twitched in disbelief. Beast Boy and Raven looked at each other with wide eyes. 'How does he keep coming back?' "Pack up; I'll be in the car." With that he left the room and headed for the T-car and soon the rest of the gang followed. Starfire sat near the window claiming that she would get car sick so Raven and Beast Boy sat next to one another. Beast Boy tried to refrain from striking a conversation by facing away from her without making it obvious but the fact that he way in he middle didn't give him liberty to pull off such an excuse.

Raven was still brooding over why he was acting this way. She was going to ask him but knowing Beast Boy, he was probably going to say he was okay so she decided to ask him something else.

"How did you know that was going to work? Back at the plant?" He looked at her with a mischievous grin. "Well don't keep me waiting." Her tone sounded natural, with no monotone, as if she was forcing herself.

"Well I'm pretty much into this zoology thing. Well 99% because I can morph into 100% of all animals so I thought that I may tap into some of their hidden powers by reading about them."

"I see. That was pretty smart back there." She tried to keep her voice down as she said that statement, but to a person with ultra-hearing, it was more than audible to him. "So are there any other plans I need to know?"

"Nope, you're looking at a man without a plan." Beast Boy was barely able to contain his happiness. "How about you, are you okay?"

"I guess I will be, I mean after today things don't seem like they will get any better for us." She said with a tint of disappointment.

"Well it's our job, Rae. It's our job." They arrived back at the tower and Robin immediately went to his room –Starfire followed.

It had gotten dark and the night's breeze was to die for. The three remaining titans spend some time in the common room until Raven said she was going to bed. Cyborg also followed suit a couple minutes later. Beast Boy was left alone in the common room. He wasn't feeling sleepy at all so he decided to go get some air and soak in all the events that had unfolded today. He morphed into a bird and flew to the top of the roof and turned back to his normal self.

As he landed on the roof, he noticed he wasn't alone. A clad of blue could be seen a few steps from where he was standing. He knew it could only be one person: Raven. Knowing her, he decided it was a smart idea to leave her alone. He was about to leave when he heard a low voice speaking.

"It's okay. You don't have to leave…Please" Hearing that last part was a rare novelty, one that would be engraved in his mind for all eternity. Without a word he walked over her and sat down next to her. He looked at her face and noticed that she'd been crying. He felt his heart let out a squeeze; seeing her cry was like having a knife in his chest. He now had a concerned look but didn't know where to start; after days of silence, this day hadn't gone according to script. The wind blew and her cape uncovered her body, revealing her voluptuous figure. Once more Beast Boy felt that his body was betraying him. He looked at her and then stared at the horizon; the stars looked so peaceful, so beautiful, but the latter wasn't the case with Raven. He was feeling guilty as each second passed. He was about to speak but was stopped as she said something that was rather very sad.

"I feel so lonely, Beast Boy. Ironic isn't it? I mean this coming from me –the girl who always locks herself in her room. I feel so alone to the point that it hurts. I come here everyday because the sound of the waves and looking at the stars calms my mind a little. I guess all I'm saying is… I miss you." The moonlight was reflecting intensely in her eyes that Beast Boy knew that she'd started to cry again. It was all too much for him to absorb so he stared at her and took her hand in his and gave it a slight squeeze. Truer words are never spoken. He was afraid of aggravating the situation any further. "I'm a freak who nobody wants to be friends with..." The statement had stroke an emotional response from Beast Boy and felt his eyes well up and tears rolled down his own cheeks. He pulled her into his chest and held her in a secure embrace with his face buried in her violet hair.

"That's not true! Don't ever say something like that ever again. I was always your friend and always will be. You think you're alone Rae, but you're not, you never were." He was now become barely articulate. He held her tighter as he said every word.

 ** _Author's Notes_**

 ** _don't forget to rate the progress, it would be wonderful to get feedback. there are no bad reviews, think of them as positive criticism. it helps me grow. Next chapter will be up In a jiffy._**


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Almost there... I really appreciate all the support.** **Chapter 6**

Every word that came out of his mouth made her feel more and more insecure and she dug deeper into his chest, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth. She'd stopped sobbing but there seemed to be no end to the streams of tears that had found refuge on her face. She was overwhelmed with an array of emotion. Beast Boy's outfit was now flooded with tears, all he could do was hold her. They stayed like that for a while until Beast Boy decided to break the silence.

"Rae, you shouldn't say such things about yourself. I don't ever want to hear you say that, ever!" He held her closer to him as he spoke. She remained silent but he could feel that she was still crying as he felt a wet-warm trail of, presumably, tears trickle down his chest. "Don't talk about yourself like that; you're the smartest, strongest, most amazing and most beautiful person I know."

Raven froze after he had said that last part. She shook off the perplexity and decided to prop up herself and look at him and noticed that tears were also trailing out of his eyes as well: She knew he cared. Her face held a visible smile but inside she was breaking; 'He's saying that just to make me feel better.' She felt her heart drop but she wasn't going to show that to him. "Thanks." She wiped her tears and noticed the pond she'd made. "Sorry for the shirt, I will clean up that for you."

"It's okay Rae; I need to clean everything in my room anyway. Unless you want to clean a hundred pounds of sweaty laundry alone, I got it?" The thought of it almost made her throw up but at least she'd spend some time with him. She gave a sarcastic smile in response. He noticed, once more, how beautiful she looked when she smiled. "I'll take that as a yes." Still smiling, she shook her head vigorously to decline the rather putrid offer. Beast Boy noticed that her mood had changed drastically in contrast to how she was a few moments ago. He decided he wanted this to last just a while longer. "Hey let's go get something to eat, you haven't had anything since we fought with Trident. C'mon on I'll make you a sandwich, and no it's a tofu sandwich this time". She thought about it for a few seconds and decided to give it a try. She nodded and he stood up first. He held up his hand to help her up but she declined, stating that she still had the strength to do so herself.

As she tried to stand up, her supporting hand slipped and she put her whole weight on her wrist, it let out a 'pop' sound. "Ahh!" She tried her best to contain the outburst she would have had if he wasn't around. Tears could be seen at the corners of her eyes –it was excruciating. She knew it wasn't broken but with this pain, it might as well have been.

"Are you okay?" He asked with concern in his voice as he held her to prevent her from falling.

She was so used to masquerading herself in her room every time she was in pain and Beast Boy's constant pampering was becoming rather annoying. But she knew he was just trying to help. "I'm fine! It's just a sprain." To confirm her point she tried to clench her fist, wincing every second she tried until she'd formed it.

Beast Boy wasn't convinced; he knew she was trying to be a hardass again and he was becoming annoyed of that side of her. Being this close to her had made him become quite at ease in her presence. Without warning he took her hand and twisted it gently. This subtle action was greeted by a loud hiss of pain –he knew she was lying. "You don't have to lie when you're hurt Rae!" His face was as stern as his voice.

"You didn't have to do that!" On a different day she would have sent him flying into the nearest wall for as little as touching her hand but with all the contact they had that day, it wouldn't make sense; also because she's hurt her right hand. Her eyes were shut. The emotional turmoil in her mind had disturbed her magic cycles and her ability to heal herself was stalled and to make it worse, she wasn't in the condition to meditate.

"Relax Rae; we can get that fixed up down at the medical bay."

Hearing the word 'we' meant that he was going to be the one tending to her. She wasn't exactly prepared to be his first 'failed' experiment.

"No way are you 'fixing me up' Beast Boy!"

"Trust me I've been reading a lot about first aid: I've got this." He gave her an assuring smile. She vacillated for a while but the wave of uncertainty blew past quickly and she decided to let him do it. She'd let him do a lot today and it was beginning to worry her that she was losing her grip.

They entered the Med. Bay and Raven took a seat and waited for Beast Boy who was a few steps behind her. "I don't know why you didn't call Cyborg for this?" She was starting to get nervous and her pain was becoming worse.

"Cy really hates to be bothered when he's on his charging platform. It's like he's in sleep mode or something." He spoke as he searched the drawers for an array of things only known to him. Raven tried to peep and see what he was doing buy his body covered everything and all she could see was her back. She noticed he was done perusing; he turned back to her –with nothing in his hands. "Let me see that, Rae." He spoke in a tone that gave the hint that this was a request. She hesitated at first but granted him access by giving him her hand. She hadn't looked at it as it was dark outside and her face was engrossed with horror as she saw the discoloration around her wrist.

Beast Boy almost choked with surprise as he saw her hand. He knew that this was bad. "Well it's not broken but it's definitely bad. There's no swelling or tenderness so it's not a fracture either. My best guess, it's a severe sprain." Beast Boy was still skeptical at his own statement and looked at her wrist with even more interest than before. "To be sure let's X-ray that." She nodded quickly, filled with panic.

She was so bewildered that she followed him to the X-ray. She paced her hand on the white dash and waited for him. She saw that he was lost at the control panel.

"It's the green button." She rolled her eyes at just how stupid he could be at times. He scratched his head and chuckled in response then pressed the button.

(-- Scene skip--)

"Yeah, nothing out of the ordinary. I guess some pain killers and ice should clear that up and you'll be fine by tomorrow."

She glared at him for a while thinking to herself how s much pain could be caused by 'nothing out of the ordinary' but after seeing the X-ray herself all she could do was pout. "Okay doc."

"I would make a great doctor." He sounded proud of himself. She let him have his moment of glory, inwardly she thought the same.

"You sure would." Her trademark sarcasm had returned.

"Oh, you're just jealous that I am better than you at something." He grinned.

"I think you are already better than me at something: Telling bad jokes."

"Hey those jokes are golden! Listen to this: How much dirt is in a 10 mile hole?"

"Umm… 10miles of it obviously." She replied in her usual monotone.

"There's none silly! It wouldn't be called a 'hole' if there was dirt in it now would it?" He was already in a fit of laughter.

"sometimes you have to keep it simple Rae."She smiled and for a while this time. 'That was smart' she thought. She smiled again and remained quiet.

She looked at the ground and then to him, and then decided to speak as she realized that he was done laughing.

"Did you really mean what you said? That I'm the most amazing person you've met and that i am the most beautiful girl you know or were you just trying to calm me down?" Her tone was sad and uncertain but her face was serious. She kept her eyes glued to his.

 **A/N- well that's another chapter done... perhaps not as interesting but hold the shots...it's bound to get better.**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Beast Boy felt his body give a reflexive shrug; he had almost forgotten that he'd said all that. He thought that she'd shrug it off like she usually did and not speak on the matter, but on the contrary, she did. He was really caught unawares by the question but the spectrum of uncertainty in her voice, even for a dense idiot like himself, suggested that she wanted it to be true. This bothered him, in a good way, at least. In less than a split second over a million thoughts scrambled in his brain –the dominant question being: 'Could she possibly like me?' He wasn't sure what he was about to do, but she'd asked for the truth right? That was what she was getting. He looked back at her; his face masqueraded in sheer calmness but he was anything but calm.

"Yes, I meant every single word of it. You're a thick skull at times but you are an amazing friend and more so an amazing person all round. You carried the biggest burden anyone could have on your shoulders for your entire life, isolating yourself from everyone and everything, burying yourself in the darkness just so you could save the very same people who would call you all sorts of bad names. I can't say a lot of people who would do that, in fact I don't think I can name anyone at all! I am just happy that I had the chance of knowing someone like you; someone so loving and caring no matter how passively you may show it. You could be so much more; you're smart, caring –in your own way I guess-; you may act distant sometimes but I know you care about each one of us… about me. But there's this block with you that makes you doubt yourself, that you're not good enough."

Raven stared at her feet. That was the nicest thing someone's ever said to her and to think it was coming from Beast Boy –the very person who she was so cold against- it was too overwhelming for her. She felt a familiar feeling sting her eyes and in a split second tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt relieved but it wasn't going to be that easy to forget all that has happened.

"I've been through a lot Beast Boy. Every one thinks I'm the weird one, the creepy one. If they only understood that I am just… different. I have lived in this lonely and barren wasteland for all my life. Try being the daughter of an inter-galactic demon as well as the cause of the end of the world, and then you'll realize why you aren't good enough." She was breaking at this point and for the first time that year she had started to fully lose control of her powers and a cylinder engulfed in dark energy shattered at the near corner. Beast Boy began to panic; he felt sad that he was never by her side to talk to her, she'd been trapped in this emotional box all this time and had no one to speak to, and he didn't think that Star would know either –as she would be too busy discovering her boyfriend. Raven's tears were leaking feely onto the ground. She felt the urge to cover herself from his gaze but remembered she didn't have her hood on due to the heat; she clasped her face in her hands. "If you only knew what I had to go through every day to keep going…"

Now everything was flying around the room and Beast Boy thought that she'd take town the whole building with her if she didn't calm down. He ran up to her and gently put his hands around her, drawing small circles on her back.

"Rae, you're not worthless or a burden! You're my friend and yes, I know how it feels to feel alone and unwanted, that was me at the doom patrol [AN: a bit OC here]. You may think you're not loved, wanted but you're wrong! I will always be here for you and with you…I…I…lo…"

Before he could go on he felt something hard hit the back of his head. "Oww!" Raven had an idea on what he was about to say but her instincts told her not to be so believing. She had stopped crying now and started to calm down. The med bay was a pigsty. She felt slightly embarrassed for losing control like that. Beast Boy on the other hand was still examining his condition; he hadn't been knocked out cold but the pain was till there. Raven decided they probably should head to the common room. She offered a hand to Beast Boy but had forgotten that she had injured in earlier on, as he supported his full with on it, the pain became unbearable and she left his arm, which made him crash back onto the hard floor.

"Sorry about that." She said while holding her wrist up as proof.

"It's alright. Not used to the whole injury thing huh?" She simply nodded as he dusted himself and got up.

"Why don't we go back to the common room to round up this whole mess of a day?" She felt slightly embarrassed for what had happened this whole day and wanted to make sure that no other weird words were said.

"Sounds good." That was all Beast Boy could say as he followed her. He noticed that she didn't have her hood; her hair had grown slightly longer. She seemed to be a totally different person and he started to instinctively stare at her womanly figure. He felt a blush creep onto his face at what his mind was thinking of. He had come to terms with the fact that he had feelings for her but he was still pessimistic on whether or not he had a chance. They arrived at the common room and Raven sat down on the couch, shortly, Beast Boy came and sat down beside her. Raven fidgeted with her fingers and tried to think of something to say but couldn't think of anything to say. The silence was almost frustrating for the two titans as they both couldn't come up with a startup topic. They remained quiet for a while until Beast Boy thought that enough was enough and decided to speak.

"Man. I could use myself a good ol' fashion vacation right about now." He tried to bring some life to the room once more as the silence had taken its toll over the two titans. "Why can't we go back to Tokyo. Oh how I miss Tokyo." He sighed as he said the last part, inevitably annoying Raven in the process.

"Yeah…it was so interesting there. I can't wait to go there and eat uncooked fish and walk in streets where I can't understand what people or signs are saying." She held her sarcasm as she rolled her eyes at the thought of being there again. She personally hadn't taken keen interest in the trip and found it boring and counter-productive.

"Come on Rae, maybe this time you will like it."

"And what miracle would bring forth that revelation?" She crossed her arms.

"Me." His voice was sincere and true. She felt herself blush at his statement.

"And see another 'lip fight' between Robin and Starfire? No thank you." She was still blushing but tried to keep her demeanor calm and unflustered.

"Is that a tint of jealousy I hear?" Beast Boy meant no harm by teasing her and she knew that but to say she was jealous was a bit of an overstatement. She looked at him with a crooked eyebrow that said 'oh please'.

"Really Beast Boy?" She spoke, now in her usual monotone. "I don't see how kissing brings people closer." Beast Boy looked at her intently, focusing on her lips as they moved and he was lost at the thought of how they would feel when pressed against his. He was way ahead of his time and wasn't focusing on what she was saying. He snapped back into reality and gave a quick reply.

"Well then maybe we should try it more often." Beast Boys brain had slipped out classified information in dangerous territory and this mission was about to back fire –or so he thought. As he realized what he had said, he worked in haste to come up with a good cover-up. Raven was still trying to process what he'd just said… did he like her? Was this his ploy to steal her first kiss? Was he tying to take advantage of her deranged state of mind to do shameless things with her? So many thoughts were going through her head and what surprised her the most was that she had no problem with any of them. She misconstrued his statement for a flirt –not her fault- but decided that she was not in the right mind for any of this. She was at war with herself and the side that told her to seize this opportunity was winning but decided not to do what her brain told her.

Beast Boys' case was no different. Though he wanted to clarify the situation before she got the wrong idea, it was too late for that however and he knew what he had said. It wasn't like he wasn't thinking about it, but it just felt like the wrong place to bring it up. The train was in transit, words had been said and he knew the brakes weren't going to stop him from crashing into the wall that was her response.

A/N- teh hee...what do you think? **almost there...**


	9. Notice

Whats gooooooooood my wonderful people. Sorry for going MIA... some people still wanna live in the dark ages and don't allow tech at camps so that accounts for the zzzzzzzzzz. But here I am back to civilisation, so let's get on with it.

I will upload the next chapter in **exactly** less than 10 hours today...so please keep the fire burning for me...

I am nothing without my readers; you are my pillars and I love you infinetly.

with love from your's trully, deadmous3


	10. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Raven's brain tried to connect the dots, hoping to understanding the situation a bit more clearly. She was drowned in a tidal wave of possibilities, doubts and confusion, and was sinking fast; this was all new to her and as far as she was concerned, the bus was moving a bit too fast for her pace. It just didn't make any sense.

'I'm probably overthinking this.' What he said earlier echoed in the back of her head, ' "Sometimes you gotta keep it simple Rae." '

'Yeah, simple. That's what I'll do, shake off the weird vibe and keep it simple.' She felt her body twitch in response to using the strange word. '"Vibe?" He's really starting to rub off on me huh?' She became so immersed in thought that she'd momentarily forgotten about Beast Boy, or what he had just said.

For Beast Boy, his nerves were starting to get the better of him; he'd started to sweat heavily (heavier than before at least) and clenched his fists, his grip getting firmer every second.

'What I would do for a crime alert right about now.' He took a deep breath and took a moment to get himself sorted. 'well, maybe she didn't hear me. I mean there have been many times when she'd not answer.' At this point he started asking himself questions he didn't have answers to –Which just added to the changeling's undying problems. 'Just say something, anything!' He knew he had to divert this elsewhere before she misunderstood him and sent a flying into the nearest dimension. Despite mastering his superpower, changing the subject, especially now, seemed to be a big challenge.

Silence had crept over the two titans, a nervy Beast Boy and a pensive Raven. Beast Boy knew he had to say something, before she did at least. He cleared his throat and placed his hand on her shoulder, snapping her back to reality.

"H-hey Rae, I…didn't mean to offend you." He cursed at himself, 'offend you? Good going Beast Boy, out of all the things to say.'

"Huh? What do you mean Beast Boy?" It was a rather hurried response as she was recovering from the mental torment she'd experienced a few seconds ago. She blinked a few times and stared at him blankly as if she'd had her mind wiped clean.

'Yes! She didn't hear me, phew! That was close.' He felt a brief rush of calmness breeze past and he welcomed this by clenching his fists, one of which was still placed of on Raven's shoulder; his nails went deep and gave her quite the pinch.

"Owww! Beast Boy! You pinched me!" She slapped his hand away and held her shoulder as she shut her eyes, wincing. She felt like lashing out on the changeling but she really didn't have it in her, especially today."

"I'm so sorry, let me help you with that." He sounded genuinely concerned.

"Great. First my arm and now my you hurt my shoulder. I wonder what other part of me you'll break next." She was in pain but tried hard to keep the humor radiant as she spoke.

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Beast Boy chuckled. "Hey, I'll have you know that I wasn't the one who sprained your 'hand' not arm, FYI. Also I 'pinched' your shoulder, nothing on you is broken." He had a smirk on his face that boasted both satisfaction and content. "I think you need to re-do your biology lessons Einstein."

Raven took a look him and smiled. "You've got jokes today, huh? Wait till I feel one-hundred percent again, I'll get back at you."

He put his hands on his hips. "Really? Please. You wouldn't tell a joke if it was staring you right in the face."

"If it was staring me in the face? Really Beast Boy?" She laughed. He'd never heard her laugh; it was low and barely audible but enough for him to comprehend. She sounded so beautiful when she laughed. It was something he was hoping would become a regular occurrence. He stared at her with a 'Why-do-you-have-to-say-that face.

"Oh yeah? Making funny jokes is high volume work, mama. You can go on if you think you can do better. In fact, let's settle this with a wager: If I win, you'll get to listen to all my jokes, without interruptions and definitely without hurting me. Also you'll have to wear something else other than your cloak. If you win, well you'll get to choose your own terms. Either way I still win because you get to do what I tell you to do."

"You really put your mind in this. Okay I will try but no thanks to the whole wager thing." She knew he'd make sure she didn't win so he could have things his way and she did not even want to think about being in a different outfit than her regular one. "Alright…Why did the chicken..." He jumped in before she could finish her statement.

"Aaaaaaaah No!! That's like the worst and most cliché joke ever created!" He beamed, "Next."

"Okay, jeez! Okay…umm… How did the fat dog lose eight pounds?" She was dangerously out of her comfort zone and was treading in unfamiliar territory.

"How?" Honestly he wasn't exactly disappointed, even though the start was more than uninteresting, he knew she didn't normally do this. He could visibly see her fidgeting with her fingers as she was running low on confidence. She avoided eye contact and the crimson mask on her face was more than visible. 'she looks so pretty like that'. He'd now started looking at Raven from a different lens these past days. He knew what it meant but did not want to accept it. 'No, no, no!'

"He…He kept jumping to conclusions." She felt so uncomfortable, the heat wasn't doing her any favors either.

Beast Boy let out a chuckle, and then another, then burst into laughter. She was confused at whether he was laughing at her joke or 'at' her joke (that it wasn't that funny). "I told you this wasn't my thing." She mumbled. He heard this and sat upright and faced her.

"I'll be honest with you; it wasn't as funny as It would if I was the one crackin' it. But you're still in first grade so that's alright. You didn't' die did you?" Raven looked like she was slightly offended by the comment but brushed it aside as it wasn't even close to what she'd said to him and collectively it was a mere drop in an ocean of insults. The day had been going in constant flux but she loved it, talking to him, it made her feel really warm and another feeling that she just couldn't put a finger on. She knew he'd want a challenge so she thought to provoke the changeling.

"I guess I didn't. First grade really? Okay Mr. 12 grader, do better."

"Oh I can do better than better. Err… Why did the toilet roll go down the mountain?" His eyes sparkled in hopes of getting a reply, he looked like a child that's their first Christmas gift.

"Why?"

"Because it wanted to get to the 'bottom!' " And there he went again, in another fit of laughter. Raven tried to suppress her laugh but her body betrayed her. She hadn't found it extremely funny but the fact that he was so happy had a domino effect on her too. She put her hand on her mouth to stop herself from cracking again.

"Eeew! Where's your class? That's a nasty joke but a joke nonetheless." She was still giggling. "Okay you are officially the mayor of disgusting joke-telling town."

"Wow. You had to remix it with your uncle jokes." His voice polluted with sarcasm, "You still have work to do so leave the jokes to me, uncle." They both started to laugh and now her voice clearly audible.

……Scene Skip……….

"Hey, it's five minutes past snack time, come on I'll show you how I whip up cookies and milk BBoy style. I promise you will love it" He rubbed his hands together and smacked his lips.

"If that means Vegetable cookies with soy milk, no thanks. Why can't you just drink real milk? His face quickly drowned every trace of excitement and replaced it with disgust.

"I can turn into those animals! It's like drinking my own milk!" She didn't know how that even made sense but decided not to push more buttons. "After you m' Lady." He gestured with an accent. She couldn't help but blush at his offer and obliged.

"Such a gentle man" She decided to play along. Unbeknownst to the two, they were being watched by three individuals that had buried their faces in the dark but their bewilderment wasn't something that needed a luminous object to be presented. They all remained there in silence and bafflement until one decided to break the silence.

 **AN:** _Apologies to all of you who thought that this was the chapter when it all goes down...sorry i'm hoping to ride this baby a little longer... this is the bond building part of the story... sink with me here people..._ _don't forget to place a review below and don't be shy ti critique..cheers._


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